Customer Reviews

Duck Soup/Horse Feathers 2-Pack [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Five stars for the films, no doubt about that. But even if I consider the age of these flicks, the DVD-quality is the WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!
At times you can hardly make out what is happening on screen. I think they have used an old video taped version, cut out the commercials and transferred the film to DVD.
Shame on the makers of these DVD's! My advice is not to buy them: they are too expensive for what they offer.

These films are all 5-star classics so surely they deserve better treatment than has been meted out here. The picture quality is appalling, the synchronisation poor, and the sound barely audible. Also since there are no extra features, the price being charged is ridiculously high as the 3 films could fit comfortably onto a single dual-layer disc.

As usual, you have some people trying to rip you off here, charging $305 for 3 DVDs. And they probably call themselves fans of American comedy. Ha!

There's a 5 DVD "Marx Bros Collection" coming out in November 03, and the price will be about $25. So preorder it, and spend the other $280 on your kids!

The Marx Brothers up to old antics as usual. I myself love a good, smart comedy, and that is what these two golden comedies offer. Duck soup takes place as groucho takes over Freedonia, while he hires Harpo and Cheeko as spies. In Animal crackers, they pretty much ruin the estate of a wealthy young woman.

I can't believe that nobody has ever reviewed this one. If you haven't seen it I urge you to do so. In it, Groucho becomes president; that's all you need to know. Gone are the unnecessary diversions of other Marx Bros. films -- there are no harp solos (Harpo's trademark), no piano solos (Chico's bag), and no vacuous "nice-couple" romantic subplots. The only musical numbers to be seen here are appropriately ludicrous; here is an excerpt of the song Groucho sings after being elected president of Freedonia: "The last guy nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it / If you think this country's bad-off now, just wait'll I get through with it. . . If any man should come between a husband and his bride / we find out which one she prefers by letting her decide / If she prefers the other man the husband steps outside / we stand him up against the wall and POP! goes the weasel. . ." If that doesn't make you laugh, you could use a prescription for Prozac. This film is a must for anyone interested in the history of great American comedy. Along with W.C. Fields' IT'S A GIFT and IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, it's one of the best screwball comedies of the '30s and is a definite precursor to such later nonsense-comedies as AIRPLANE! and MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Just watch it.

The video quality is NO WORSE then other films from the same era. The quality can be compared to the newly released Frankenstein. Comments about being transfered from video seem a bit harsh. If you are a Marx Brothers fan you will enjoy this set.

The quality is as good as I would expect it to be. When you consider that these films were made in and around 1930- it's quite good. They're as good as I could expect to see on TV.

My only issue is that the sound is at a level that's lower than what I use for normal TV channels so I have to crank it up a bit and then it's fine.

Ignore the other reviews about the picture quality- it's fine.

I have not seen this presentation of the films, but question the reviews. I find that there is too much discrepancy between the reviews here and reviews for the individual films. In my experience Image Entertainment has always done a superior job with their DVD releases, including some of the best releases of silent films available-presumably more difficult source material than the Marx brothers films. I would appreciate further input from anyone in regards to the quality of these films on DVD, and apologize for posting this non-review.

This is a high quality copy of three Max Brothers classics. A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races would have properly complete the collection but they were from a different studio. At the time of my purchase neither was available on DVD. These are great movies for the hollidays for those people who are tired of Christmas Story or It a wonderful life.

"Animal Crackers" is hysterical, with classic bits you'll recognize. It's a must-see if only to know the foundations of Marx Brothers (and therefore American) humor. But look out for the bad acting and bad musical numbers. The best part is when Groucho interacts with Margaret Dumont. My favorite: the Captain Spaulding song.

As for "Duck Soup," it's the last third that's the classic part. If you're a comedy film buff, you simply must see this one. You'll recognize how this film had so much effect on so many others that followed. The hilarious skits don't have much to do with each other, but who cares? And it was nice to see the handsome Zeppo.